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“It’s a new dawn, it’s a
new day…

…And I’m feeling good!” The song Feeling Good has been brought to
fame in various capacities over the past half decade. It accompanied
the opening credits to a James Bond film, helped propel Michael
Bublé to new levels of stardom and appeared – perhaps less famously
– on the debut album of the Pussycat Dolls.

But this may be a first for the timeless hit; I’m using it as an analogy
for MiFID II. The trading industry is entering 2018 with a revived
attitude towards the widely despised regulation. It’s an attitude of
acceptance and ‘we’ve just got to get on with it’.

Traders have spent the last 12 months reading in-depth about
MiFID II, attending educational events – such as The TRADE’s panel
sessions – and getting to grips with the new rules in pretty much
every way they possibly can.

While the road might have been tough, they are now mostly ready
for the challenge after a year of dedicating themselves to understanding the 1,600-page behemoth. The buy-side are ready for the
new dawn come 3 January, and they are FEEEEELLLLLLLLLLING
GOOOOOOOOOOOD!

You won’t find any MiFID moping in this issue, just a look at the
new landscape as the rules finally take hold.

We look in detail at where order flow will go post-MiFID II with
systematic internalisers, lit venues and multilateral trading facilities
as volumes previously going through broker crossing networks look
for a new home. Some of the biggest names on the buy- and sell-side
give their views (page 36).

We also look at the future of FX trading, dark pools and plenty more
MiFID II-related topics throughout the magazine.

While MiFID II’s popularity has been on the slide ever since its
introduction many, many moons ago, going the other way right
now is bitcoin. The now infamous cryptocurrency has transitioned
from being known for its shady usage to sparking the interest of the
mainstream institutional investor community. We take a look at its
extraordinary rise in both price and popularity, along with the future
of it following the launch of new futures products in the market.

It’s been nice to take a positive view on MiFID II for once at the
start of our magazine. But if you’re not onboard
with the optimism then at least take some solace